Prominent among them was Drona, a brahmin well versed in military skills. He was the tutor of the Pandava and Kaurava princes and later played an important role in the Mahabharata war. Drona's father was the revered sage Bharadwaja. Once he was performing some meditation at the source of the river Ganga. Early one morning he went to the river to bathe before he started his rituals. There he saw the voluptuous apsara Ghritachi emerge from the river with a single garment wrapped around her. As she was languorously ascending the steep slope on the river bank her garment came loose. Bharadwaja, who was watching her, could not control his desire and his 'vital fluid' was released. Bharadwaja collected this in a vat, the Sanskrit word for which id 'drona'. A child emerged from this vat and was named Drona. Later the same incident was repeated. This time the sage collected the semen in a cup made from the leaves of a tree. A girl emerged from this cup and was named Sruvavati.
The sage Vyasa was the compiler of the Vedas and the author of the Mahabharata and the Bhagwat Purana. Once Vyasa was about to start a fire by rubbing two sticks of wood. The apsara Ghritachi happened to come there. The sage saw her and was smitten by desire. The apsara saw that the sage was agitated by her appearance and transformed herself into a parrot, but did not leave. The image of the sexy apsara was retained in the mind of the sage and try as he might he could not get rid of it. However he continued starting the fire and as the wood started to burn his seed fell into the fire. From the flames emerged a dazzling child whose brilliance outshone the flames. He was named Shuka from the Sanskrit word for parrot. Shuka was the first to hear the Bhagwat Purana from his father and later recited it to King Parikshit, who was destined to die of a snake bite.
Not all births were unusual. Bhrigu was an illustrious sage and Chyavana was his equally illustrious son. Chyavana had a son named Pramati. Pramati cohabited with Ghritachi who bore his son, Ruru. There were many famous sages in this line.
Ghritachi is mentioned several times in the Mahabharata along with a host of other apsaras. These apsaras had been invited to dance at special occasions. King Pandava was cursed that he would die if he had intercourse. Hence his wife Kunti invoked a few of the demi-Gods with a special mantra that she knew. The demi-Gods so invoked were bound to bless her with a son. One of the demi-Gods so invoke was Indra and thus Arjuna was born. The apsaras, including Ghritachi, assembled to dance at the celebrations of Arjuna's birth. Later when Arjuna was a guest in Indra's court in heaven Ghritachi and the other apsaras danced to entertain him.
